I have a Mk 1 with the analog power board and am using a Farad Super 3. I do NOT have this issue.
I have the directstream DAC MK1, and I do not ever have this issue.
I have a JKR-modified DS Sr., including the analogue power supply (a/k/a MK I), and I do not experience this.
FWIW.
I’m getting some pretty good sound! I may try another power supply for the analog card in the mk1 but the sound I am getting right now is amazing.
Hey folks, my first visit to the forums for quite a while. I too have a modified MK1 with APS transformers and the external analog power board in the network bridge slot.
I just want to suggest that you (mitchb105) could try operating your DAC for a few days without the external power supply turned on at all and see whether your DAC becomes a more consistent performer, albeit without the benefits that the separate supply provides.
I’m not as disciplined as Mr Richards requires… I always leave my DAC powered on at the back switch and turn the analog board PSU on and off with each listening session just to make its bright blue LEDs go away when I’m not using it. I have experimented in the past with turning the DAC itself off to see if the SQ changes but it’s been very consistent for me – settling in to its best performance after a reasonably short warm up.
If you find a more consistent performance without the external PSU turned on, perhaps you could try an inexpensive one like what I’m using: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000926193605.html
I noticed before the mods were done that the dac sounded better with a reboot every couple of weeks. Now I find that the dac sounds best with a daily reboot. The dac sounds awesome but the fact that the dac likes a daily reboot tells me that the dac is not perfect. It does sound incredible though. I had my mk1 go in for mod upgrades 3 times and I appreciated the improvement each time. My dac sounds considerably better than stock and some would argue that it sounds better than the stock Mk2.